Best carpet stain removers

The best carpet stain removers can be a lifesaver. Many of us have been there, and witnessed that moment when time slows down and a glass of red wine tumbles and splashes across your light carpet.

We've tested products from well-known carpet cleaner brands such as Dyson, Rug Doctor, Vanish, Dr. Beckmann and more to see how easily they tackle tough stains such as red wine, turmeric-packed curry, black coffee and tomato ketchup. 

We found two standout Best Buys that got rid of stains in a flash, one of which is a Great Value buy that clean carpets quickly for less. 

We also tested how the carpet stain removers you can buy fared against home remedies for getting rid of carpets stains, including hydrogen peroxide, bicarbonate of soda and Fairy Liquid.

The best carpet stain removers

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Wanting a machine instead of a spray? Check out our guide on the best carpet cleaners

The carpet stain removers we tested

All the carpet stain removers we tested are listed in alphabetical order below.

Only logged-in Which? members can view best carpet stain removers from our tests

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1001 Carpet Stain Remover 

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Astonish Specialist Carpet & Upholstery Spray

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Dr. Beckmann Carpet Stain Remover

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Need to know  Before first use, unscrew the brush head and pierce a small 2mm hole in the seal.

See our suite of tried and tested cleaning solutions: Best kitchen cleaning sprays, best bathroom cleaning sprays, best all-purpose cleaning sprays and best oven cleaners

Dyson Dyzolv Spot Cleaner

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Ecozone Carpet Shampoo

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Need to know Dilute the solution up to 1:10 for spot cleaning stains. For larger areas or to use with a carpet cleaner machine, dilute up to 1:8. 

HG Stain Spray Extra Strong

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OzKleen Carpet Power Cleaner

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Rug Doctor Oxy Power Stain Remover

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Simoniz Upholstery & Carpet Cleaner  

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Vanish Gold Oxi Action Carpet Care and Upholstery Spot On Spray 

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Best carpet stain remover home remedies

Wondering how to remove stains from a carpet when you don't have a bottle of the tested cleaners handy? Does vinegar and baking soda remove old stains from carpet?

As well as testing carpet stain removers you can buy in a bottle or can, we also subjected popular home remedies you might find when you search online for 'best carpet stain removers' to the same strict tests. 

Washing-up liquid and water

We used Fairy Platinum Quick Wash washing-up liquid and warm tap water. We put one squirt of soap (about a teaspoon) in 100ml of warm water.

Our verdict This worked every time and was the best of the home remedies we tested. Although it needed a lot of elbow grease, it outdid many of the products on test too. 

The soap smell was much nicer than the fragrance of the commercial products. It also dried the quickest (but still took more than 12 hours). 

If you don't have the correct spray to hand and you've got a fresh stain that needs tackling, this is definitely the home remedy to go for.

Hydrogen peroxide 

We used a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution neat, applying two tablespoons to the stain. 

Our verdict This works, but the smell is awful and lingers, so much so that you need to wash it out with soap and water. 

We didn't notice any bleaching from it on our light grey carpet tiles.

White wine

White wine shifts red wine stains, or that's what the received wisdom says anyway. We set out to see if this was true.

We used La Vieille Ferme white wine.

Our verdict It took two helpings of white wine to remove both the dried and fresh red wine stains. The white wine didn't need much in the way of scrubbing between pouring. It was like it got rid of the stain on its own. 

 But the wine smell left behind then needed dealing with. 

If you don't have a cleaning product in the cupboard, then we'd say go for the white wine. However, to save yourself the job of an extra clean to remove the smell, use soap for cleaning and save the wine for drinking.

Vinegar

We used distilled vinegar neat, applying three tablespoons to the stain. 

Our verdict Like most of the home remedies we tried, vinegar works, but also like most of the home remedies, the smell left behind then needed cleaning up. 

Save yourself the hassle of a second clean to get rid of the smell and just stick to soap and water or one of our Best Buys.

Bicarbonate of soda

We tried two different bicarb mixes for these tests. One with warm water and one with vinegar. With both mixes we sprinkled the bicarbonate of soda over the stain, fully covering it. Then we poured over the liquid until the stains were drenched. 

Our verdict If you ever did the volcano experiment at school you know how this goes. It's very visually impressive. That said, don't use bicarbonate of soda to clean red wine stains. When we tried it, it appeared to react with the wine stain and we were left with a large patch of carpet with a blue tinge.

It did, however, work on the curry stains, proving slightly more effective with vinegar. The downside to using vinegar is the smell, so you'll need to clean the scent out afterwards. 

How we test carpet stain removers

For all of the carpet stain remover products and home remedies, we follow a strict set of tests. 

For these tests, we take 50 x 50cm carpet tiles and split them into zones.  Each zone is used for a stain - one of each type of stain for each product and home remedy being examined.

We buy all the carpet stain removers we test.

We regularly revisit the carpet stain removers on sale to see if there are any more popular models that need testing and when we find them we do.

Furnish your home to perfection: How to buy the best carpet

Types of stain used

We apply one tablespoon of the following stains to each zone:

• Coffee
• Curry
• Red wine
• Tomato ketchup

Fresh stains are cleaned within five minutes of application, while dried stains are left until touch dry. Each stain is assessed on the following factors:

• Cleaning This is the most important test in our investigation. Each product and home remedy is given five chances to remove the stain. After each clean, the zone is examined to see how visible the stain still is. The cleaned stains are also checked once dry to see if any reappear.
• Ease of use We record how much elbow grease and repeat applications are needed to clean off the stain with each of the products and home remedies. 
• Odour We smell each stain zone after it is cleaned. Each is ranked from least odorous to most. 
• Texture of carpet We compare the cleaned zones to an unstained piece of carpet to see if there has been an effect on the carpet's texture. We examine them directly after cleaning and then after the zones have dried. 

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How to remove old carpet stains

Sabrina Sahota, Which? senior researcher

As lead researcher for our carpet stain removers testing, I've spent hours scrubbing away at coffee, curry, red wine and tomato ketchup stains. More than 20 carpet tiles and some serious elbow grease later, here's what I've learned about shifting tough stains:

• Apply the carpet stain remover to the stain and not your sponge or cloth, especially for old stains. Then use your cleaning tool (I found a sponge to be the most effective) to work the stain remover deep into the fibres of the carpet.
• Let the carpet spray sit on the stain for a while as it needs time to work into it. For dried-on stains that you weren't able to tackle straight away, let it sit for five minutes before you start scrubbing. Fresh stains may only need a minute or two. 
• Scrub from the outside of the stain into the centre to avoid spreading the stain even more. 
• Check the stain the next day. Your carpet may look clean but some stains have a tendency to reappear once the spray has completely dried. You may find that really tough stains need a couple of reapplications to shift them.